1999 Egly-Ouriet Brut Millésimé Vieilles Vignes Grand Cru

The 1999 Brut Grand Cru is 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay from old vines in Ambonnay that spent a whopping 96 months on its lees. The wine exudes notable complexity in its dried apricots, peaches, baking spices, roasted nuts, ash, freshly baked cinnamon rolls and sweet toasted oak. This is a soft, creamy style of Champagne backed up with impressive structure. The oak notes are rather prominent at first, but then recede somewhat with air. Readers who prefer wines with less overt oak influence will probably enjoy some of the other releases more. This bottle was disgorged in July, 2008. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2019. This range from Francis Egly is one of the most impressive I tasted. Egly farms eight hectares of old-vine plots, the lion’s share of which are in his home base of Ambonnay. The wines are made in a pure, unmanipulated fashion with no filtration in a style that clearly highlights the qualities of variety and terroir to the fullest. Readers will find more details as to the aging of the various bottlings and their disgorgement dates on the back labels. In short, I always look forward to drinking the wines of Egly-Ouriet and I can’t recommend these Champagnes highly enough. Importers: North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 336-9880; Skurnik Wines, Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300